And Now A Word From Our Sponsor…

Well, Thunderheads, it’s not even been 24-hours since my inaugural post of “Wonder vs. Wander” and I already have friends trying to weasel their way into our time together. Ordinarily, I would just tell them to kindly piss-off, but considering that this one has traveled so far to speak his mind, I find myself having to make an exception. With that said, and with no desire to start a interplanetary incident, why don’t you give a hearty, warm welcome to my dear friend…

“Go ahead, buddy, the blog is all yours — at least for the next hundred words. Go ahead; they don’t bite.”

“Uh — should I give them my name?”

“Uh, sure. No, wait. Just give ’em your initials — maybe we’ll run a challenge or something to see who can guess your name.”

“Oh, ok. Umm…well here goes. When I first found out that Orlando was starting a blog as a way of promoting our world, I thought, ‘Wow, what a cool idea!’ And it is. It is such a cool idea! So much so that I practically wore his ear off begging to be a part of this thing. Well, anyways, I’m H.H.E. I’m from… No, that’s not how I wanted to start. Let me try this.

“So here we are, you, me, and the 2.54539042 x 10(to the 15th power) miles that are normally between us, otherwise known as 433 Light Years of space, and yet I can’t help but think about how close we really are. I mean, obviously, we’re close right now because I’m writing this blog with Orlando’s permission, but I’m normally much further away — like I said, by about 433 Light Years. The point is, despite the distance, I don’t think we’re all that different. The way I see it, we’re more like distant cousins. Except that you live three planets from the sun, on one of those 7 continents that you have on that little blue planet of yours, and I live in the middle of the Milky Way, as a proud citizen of the Thunderlands. You’re Earth. I’m North Star. Other than our address, I’d say, we have a lot in common.

“I mean, let’s take acceptances for example. That’s universal, right? You guys have to be accepted to get into the schools you want, just like we do. Well, as far as I can tell from the books I read, you do. And you have to fill-out job applications, right, and go through interviews before you get the job? Well, ditto! And when you make friends, don’t you first have to figure out if they like you for you, before you become friends? Well us too. See! It’s universal, just like I said. Though I gotta be honest, the whole social media “friend request” thing – yeah, well, not that I’m judging, but doesn’t that seem a bit…oh, I don’t know…creepy? The whole who’s-following-who — yeah, can’t say we’re on the same sheet there. But besides that, we’re like two peas in a pod!

“I say all this to comfort you. I know it comforts me. Who, in any world, likes feeling alone? Well, you’re not. I guess that’s my real point. So the next time you’re staring out your window and you see my star, you can know. You have a friend up here. And way more than me, I can tell you that. Everyone in the Thunderlands talks about our fascinating cousins across the starry pond. Well, that’s it…just wanted to get that out there. Until next time then. Orlando?”

“Yeah, if there is a next time. You were way over a hundred words.”

Well, Thunderheads, there you have it — something to chew on from a friend of a friend. And herein lays your next inkling.

Inkling #2:
What is The Seven Thunders? It is the allure of acceptance, in all of its many colors.